Caught him mention this here, decided to look up the project.
Seems neat. There's a few different routes that have been proposed over the years, changing with the political conditions I guess? Train gang will be fans of it.
For Bolivia I think the obvious merit is that it provides much more port access options for a landlocked country which is probably essential for maintaining their sovereignty.
It sucks but criticizing poor countries for their environmental record is often an excuse for rich countries to deny them any means to improve their situation. Unless those rich countries are willing to come in and pay to build and maintain a shit ton of renewable infrastructure, they don't have a leg to stand on.
I'm talking about internal criticism, from indigenous nations who generally support MAS and Arce. Despite their best efforts, developmentalism inherently deprives people who live on the land from which lithium and natural gas are extracted. While general standard of living may rise, there are still those impacted. Is this criticism in turn also manipulated for green imperialism, yes, of course, but it doesn't make it less true